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- [00:00]
Troy Weatherhead
No.
- [00:21]
Doug Goodnow
Welcome to the White and Blue Podcast. I'm Doug Goodnow and my co Host is Callie McGinnis. We are here to tell the interesting stories of Hillsdale College alumni, or more accurately, help them share their own stories. Here's a little bit about today's guest. Troy Weatherhead from The class of 2011 was known for his accuracy and leadership at quarterback for the Chargers. The former All American and GLIAC Player of the Year is one of the newest members of Hillsdale College's Athletic hall of Fame. Once a standout on the football field, he now succeeds in the medical sales field and as Senior Director of Global Marketing for Stryker Sage. Troy, thank you for joining us today.
- [00:58]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm really looking forward to the conversation.
- [01:01]
Callie McGinnis
Troy, it's nice to meet you in this capacity. I know I've seen you around over the years. Thank you for being back here and congratulations on your induction. It's very exciting. Tell us what you're doing now at Stryker as the Senior Director of Global marketing. What does that mean exactly?
- [01:18]
Troy Weatherhead
And.
- [01:19]
Callie McGinnis
And what do you enjoy most about what you do?
- [01:21]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, so it's been a crazy summer. Me and my family, we just moved from West Michigan and the greater Kalamazoo area, Grand Rapids, actually, to be specific, over to the northwest suburbs of Chicago and Crystal Lake, where the Striker Sage building and headquarters is located. And, you know, as the Senior Director of Global marketing, my job is really to work with our internal stakeholders and team to set a strategic vision for our sales force to ensure that the products that are on the market that our sales force is able to distribute to caregivers all over the world the right product that are delivered at the right time, and they allow our caregivers to best serve their patient population. And that's really what it's all about for us every single day as we head into the office.
- [01:58]
Doug Goodnow
So you were a college athlete. You had to train and learn the playbook. How was it to translate that experience to what you're doing now professionally?
- [02:09]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, I think the one thing that I've really come to appreciate now is just the way that Hillsdale College, especially playing athletics here, has best put me in a position to succeed in my professional career. At the end of the day, it's one of those things that there's always going to be a lot of competing priorities and the best that you can, you know, set your prioritization list, which is, you know, not always easy when there's a lot of things going on in your world, you know, the better Set up for success that you're going to be. And Hillsdale really, really put me in a great position to be able to do that. I actually felt like after I left Hillsdale and I stepped into the professional world, I was like, gosh, this is almost a little bit easier than what I've been doing on campus for the last couple of years. And so, you know, I joke about that, but it's. It is. It's one of those things that I always think my time spent at Hillsdale and just how thankful I was for my time here, because it really does set you up for success post graduation. And I know that's not the sentiment that is just shared by me. Me and my friend group. We talk about it all the time.
- [03:02]
Callie McGinnis
What would you say was the maybe single most important or impactful factor for your Hillsdale experience for what you're doing now?
- [03:09]
Troy Weatherhead
Gosh, it's hard to pinpoint one, but I will tell you, it's the workload that you have in the classroom. And then when I was playing college athletics, it was just the workload that you're going to have to have, you know, balance being an athlete here, right? And, you know, there's no breaks, and you got a full class load. You got to go and to practice after. Then you got to lift weights and there's film, and then you get home and you're dead tired. But guess what? You got to study because you got exams in the morning. And so there's no breaks here. There's no breaks. No, not at all. And I think I would just bucket it in. It gives you an unbelievable work ethic. And I always say to people as they're entering, you know, the workforce at Stryker, as I've been really fortunate to hire and bring abroad a lot of just recent college grads, I tell them, like, hard work is undefeated, right? And talent is the baseline here. And the harder that you're going to work, the more successful you're going to be. And, you know, I think that's the same at Hillsdale College. Smart people are everywhere here, right? Really talented individuals are everywhere on campus. But, you know, you got to work hard if you're going to be successful. And, you know that that's. That's what I learned here. And it's really translated into my professional career. And it's the same there.
- [04:08]
Doug Goodnow
You know, I see the title global marketing, and, you know, my marketing is very specific. It's very niche. Tell me about what global marketing is. And, you know, what, what you have to do. Maybe On a daily basis.
- [04:20]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah. Well, it's funny, I driving home on Sunday morning and at 3:30pm I'm getting on a flight and I'm going to Heidelberg, Germany. You know, we've got a really global footprint at Stryker and you know, my job is always to meet customers where they're at, make sure that our products are not just serving a patient population that is representative of just the United States, but there's different healthcare markets all over the world. And the way that customers, customers procure products is different all over the world. And so for me it's just making sure that you know, our teams, regionally based have the right tools to make sure that those products can get in our caregivers hands. And you know, sometimes you gotta be where your feet are and sometimes your feet gotta be overseas, you know, and able to do that. And so we operate in over 89 countries at Stryker. And so while I certainly haven't been to all 89 countries, we do have regional headquarters and it's really important for me to be there and make sure that you know, those teams, regionally based, like I mentioned, have what they need to be successful.
- [05:09]
Callie McGinnis
So you started out, I assume in sales?
- [05:12]
Troy Weatherhead
I did, yeah.
- [05:12]
Callie McGinnis
So it's like associate position or sales.
- [05:15]
Troy Weatherhead
Rep. An associate sales rep job.
- [05:17]
Callie McGinnis
So were you in a particular area of Stryker? Are you in, were you in caregiving or were you in a different.
- [05:23]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah. So you know, Stryker, there's 22 different business units for Stryker and they serve just a vast array of different call points within the hospital. So when I started with Stryker I was actually calling on orthopedic surgeons as a trauma sales rep, associate sales rep before I moved into a full rep role. And then I've just held different positions throughout my time time there. All very commercial facing between sales and marketing. But you'd be very good at that. Well, I have, I've bounced around a little bit with some, some different business units. But I think every stop that I've made at Stryker has just given me a little bit of a different viewpoint on healthcare. And I feel like it's, it's really made me a, a well rounded healthcare leader within our Stryker organization. And you know, I tell people a lot that Stryker is one of those organizations that you continually to work hard and you know, whatever you want to do, if you raise your hand for it and you deserve the right to do it, like they're going to give you the opportunity. And Stryker's been an organization that' great to me and great to my family and Anytime that I've raised my hand and said I want to do more, they've given me the opportunity, which has been remarkable.
- [06:18]
Callie McGinnis
That's neat. We were talking earlier about the Hillsdale connection with Stryker. You know, all the alums that are there, many. And I think that's neat that probably John Lauria got an ID road in there years ago and the rest is history.
- [06:31]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, he's been a huge conduit to that. And you can't talk to any Hillsdale grad who works at Stryker who doesn't know the name John Lauria or who John hasn't played a huge part in why they're there, which I think it just speaks volumes to the type of person that John is, character he is, and just how he loves to give back to this place. John loves Hillsdale College and John loves Stryker, and you can see that through and through every time you talk to him.
- [06:52]
Callie McGinnis
He's been great.
- [06:53]
Doug Goodnow
You said you. You deal with 89 countries. What's, like, the biggest challenge of doing that? You know, because every country obviously has their own healthcare system and their own way of doing things in their own bureaucracy. What's the biggest challenge there?
- [07:07]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, I mean, every. Every country just operates a little differently. Right. I mean, here we have the FDA in the United States. Health Canada is. Is obviously Canada's governing body from. For health care. And then, you know, you've got eumdr, which is in Europe, and I could go on and on and on, but essentially, you know, there's different quality requirements, different regulatory requirements, and there's a lot of hoops to jump through, and sometimes we have to make really hard decisions that, hey, is this product worth our time to go down the path to get, you know, global quality and regulatory requirements met to be able to sell product in that country? And because we're in 89 countries, that doesn't mean every product that we sell is in 89 countries. Right. It means that we have to be really strategic about where we're selling those products, products, why we're making the decision to go sell those products if we're going to be profitable in those areas. And those can be hard decisions sometimes, but they're certainly necessary to, you know, keep growing the way that Striker's grown and. And allow us to meet our financial commitments to. To the organization.
- [08:00]
Callie McGinnis
So, football. Yeah, let's talk about football.
- [08:03]
Troy Weatherhead
Let's talk football.
- [08:04]
Callie McGinnis
All right. So you have a storied. A long and storied football career at Hillsdale, it sounds like. And we're. We were a Quarterback.
- [08:12]
Troy Weatherhead
Yep.
- [08:13]
Callie McGinnis
And started for three years.
- [08:15]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah.
- [08:16]
Callie McGinnis
So record holding. So tell us about maybe some of your. Your favorite accomplishments, I guess, at Hillsdale in football.
- [08:22]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah. So I was really lucky to play with some incredible athletes. When I came to Hillsdale, I would put, you know, the class above me, my class, the class below me. You know, I would put that up with, with any group that's ever came through this storied football program, which is well over 130 years now at this point. And, you know, I say that really humbly because I know there was a lot of really good athletes that have come through here, but I played with so many great guys that weren't only great athletes, they were great people. And they're some of my best friends to this day. And when people ask me, what are your favorite moments about, you know, playing at Hillsdale and favorite moments about playing quarterback? It's never about the stats. It's never even, you know, about necessarily the wins or losses. It's just about the things that we were able to accomplish on the football field together, how much fun we had together, how we held each other accountable, how we pushed each other, how we elevated each other's play. I mean, that's the one thing that really, really just rings in my head when people ask me, you know, talk to me about your favorite moments at Hillsdale. It's always the guys that I got to play with. And like I mentioned, there's still some of my best friends today. We've got the hall of Fame induction banquet tonight. And, you know, a couple of my buddies set up a little golf outing this morning, and we had almost 20 guys that came in on a Friday morning to play. And so that just again, it speaks to the close knit nature of our crew and just, you know, how close we are to this day. But just what great, incredible people they are.
- [09:36]
Doug Goodnow
Yeah. Well, one of your fellow inductees is your head coach, Coach Otterbein. Tell me about playing quarterback for Coach Otterbein. That had to be interesting.
- [09:45]
Troy Weatherhead
It was interesting, but it was the joy of a lifetime, if I'm being honest with you. Coach Otterbein, his offense is pretty intricate and he puts a lot of trust in the quarterback as a lot of the calls are actually, you know, to be made on the line of scrimmage. And so, you know, coach will give you, as the quarterback, two, three, sometimes four calls, you know, and you got to figure out based on what the defense is doing, you know, what you're going to do. And so I really coach close. Excuse Me with Coach Audubon during my time here, we watched a lot of film together. Every Friday morning before games, we sat in his office really early and we went over the play call sheet and we talked about putting the offense in a favorable, favorable position every single play. And that's something that you just don't take lightly as a quarterback. And so I appreciated playing for Coach Otterbein being the quarterback, obviously. But I think the reason that I really enjoyed playing for Coach just goes well beyond the football field. You know, Coach was one of those people, it doesn't matter what position you played. It doesn't matter if you were, you know, the star starting quarterback or, you know, you didn't get much playing time at all. He held every single player on that field to an incredibly high standard. And it was one of toughness, it was one of integrity, it was one of togetherness. And it didn't matter who you were. Coach was going to say, hey, we're going to represent this college in a first class manner on and off the field. And if we're doing that, that's objective. One A and one B is going to go be to play football and win games. And so those are just some of the lessons that I've learned in leadership from Coach Otterbein. I mean, I could, could go on and on and on. We don't have enough time for all that. But Coach Otterbein is without a doubt one of the most influential, influential people I've ever had in my life.
- [11:14]
Callie McGinnis
What is the record that you still hold?
- [11:16]
Doug Goodnow
Gosh, you're supposed to know these things.
- [11:18]
Troy Weatherhead
I don't even know. I'm serious.
- [11:19]
Callie McGinnis
Doug sent me that in your bio and I now I can't.
- [11:22]
Doug Goodnow
I know there's like some completion percentage.
- [11:25]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, okay.
- [11:25]
Doug Goodnow
You were known as a very accurate quarterback, which is not an easy thing, you know, to complete. 70 plus percent, that's elite. Elite of the elite status. So those are the records I think you still have.
- [11:37]
Troy Weatherhead
There were a few out there and hey, records are meant to be broken. There's been some great players who have come behind me, but, you know, all those records, again, like, you know, the completion percentages, the touchdowns, I mean, there's got to be somebody on the other end catching the football. And I give a lot of credit to those guys.
- [11:50]
Callie McGinnis
Oh, you're very humble. Is football still a part of your life? Are you involved at all?
- [11:56]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, absolutely. So this summer I had the opportunity to come back and Coach Schreffler had me back on campus and I was able to Speak to a bunch of high school kids for a camp that was held here. It was called the Honor Roll Showcase, and that was really, really cool. And the football team had a voluntary workout afterwards. So I got to meet a lot of the players and got to catch up with them, which was. Was really, really special. I've got. I've got a son of my own now. He's five years old.
- [12:19]
Callie McGinnis
That was my next question.
- [12:19]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, he, you know, he's everything a dad could ask for. This, this little guy, he's into it all. We're sitting there on the couch watching, watching Detroit Lions football on Sunday. We're watching college football all day. He's playing flag football. I get to coach him, and he's all about it. He loves it. So continues as he grows older. But, you know, I still love the game of football. I think there's so many life lessons that you learn, and so those are things that I'm really hoping that, you know, my son takes, too. And he learns those same lessons. They're not throwing the ball quite yet. A lot of handoffs, but a lot.
- [12:50]
Doug Goodnow
Of wing T offense.
- [12:50]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, a lot of wing T offense. But he is under center playing quarterback, which brings a little tear to my eyes.
- [12:55]
Callie McGinnis
Wow, that's awesome. And Joe, you have one. How many kids?
- [12:59]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, three. So girl, girl, boy. They're nine, seven and five.
- [13:02]
Callie McGinnis
Very good.
- [13:03]
Troy Weatherhead
Awesome.
- [13:03]
Doug Goodnow
Okay, I think we'll pick up the football chat here in a minute, but right now we're going to take a break and be right back with the White and Blue podcast.
- [13:22]
Scott Bertram
Hey, it's Scott Bertram, host of the Radio Free Hillsdale Hour and the Hillsdale College K12 Classical Education Podcast. I want to know, what do you think about the show you're listening to right now? Visit Podcast Hillsdale. Edu and click the survey. Pop up to take our very first ever listener survey. Tell us what you like, what you don't like, and what you want to hear from us in the future. Visit Podcast Hillsdale. Edu and click the pop up to take the survey. And thank you for listening. You know the Robertson family from the hit TV show Duck Dynasty. Now Hillsdale College offers you the unique opportunity to learn alongside the Robertsons as they dive deep into Hillsdale's online course, the Genesis Story. Every Friday on the Unashamed Podcast, the Robertsons will share their insights and perspectives. Learning from Hillsdale professor of English Justin Jackson. Take a trip down south to Louisiana for this one of a kind learning experience we call Unashamed Academy. Visit unashamedforhillsdale.com and enroll today. That's Unashamed. F O R hillsdale.com to experience the Genesis story alongside the Robertsons.
- [15:00]
Doug Goodnow
Now it's time for the Hillsdale History Minute where we bring a slice of Hillsdale College history to the White and Blue podcast. For today's minute, we look at former Hillsdale College Dean of men, Robert Hendy, who served the College for over three decades before retiring in the 1980s. He was known for his frank style and no nonsense approach. However, he was also known as a strong advocate for students and kept them on the straight and narrow. Welcome back to the White and Blue podcast where we have 2011 graduate Troy Weatherhead as today's guest. Troy, I know you didn't have Dean Hendy, but you had Dean Peterson. Did he keep you on the straight and narrow?
- [15:36]
Troy Weatherhead
Dean Peterson sure did keep us on the straight and narrow. He was a frequent visitor to the Delt Sig House during my time there. But Dean Pete was also just a really good advocate for all the men on Hillsdale College's campus. And again, you talk about somebody holding you accountable and making sure you knew what the rules were and were abiding by those rules. He certainly did that for us.
- [15:55]
Callie McGinnis
You may need to define frequent visitor to the Delta house.
- [15:59]
Troy Weatherhead
I don't know if, I don't know if that's podcast worthy, to be honest with you, or if it's safe to say here. But Dean, you know, Dean, as a former alumni of Hillsdale College and also adult sake, he, like I said, he was a great advocate for us and we really, really enjoyed having him around.
- [16:13]
Doug Goodnow
So we were talking football, your career at Hillsdale, you were known as an accurate quarterback. What was like your standout moment on the field, would you say? I mean, you had quite a bit, you won a couple titles, went to the playoffs. What was like the pinnacle of your college career?
- [16:28]
Troy Weatherhead
You know, I would have to say that we were the first class, the first team I think in 2009 to go to the NCAA Division 2 playoffs. And that was an incredible moment. I'll never forget it. We were at the senior banquet, which was after the final home game and for Division 2 playoffs. You don't know if you're in the playoffs until there's basically a selection show on Sunday. And so we were at the banquet and the selection show was just starting and we were sort of getting going with some, the introductions, you know, the, the quote unquote cocktail hour, if you will, just the informal part of it. And I'll never forget Coach Otterbein came up and he took the microphone. It's all of our parents, and it's a really special day for the seniors and obviously the entire team. And he got on microphone and just screamed in the microphone, we're going to the playoffs. And it was just a moment of pure elation. And, you know, guys are crying, guys are hugging each other. And, you know, that felt like one of those things where, you know, somebody just had to break through. Right. And for our class to be able to do that and, you know, to go to the 2009 NCAA Division 2 playoffs, we won a game as we traveled to Minnesota State, Mankato. That was. That was incredible, because in 2010, we went again to the playoffs, and there were a couple teams after I had even graduated that also went to the playoffs. And it really felt like, you know, in looking back at it, that, you know, we were the ones who kind of blew the top off, if you will. And, you know, we really set and paved the path for. For others to follow in our footsteps. And I think that is definitely the moment that I look back on and that. That I'm most proud of and that I remember most fondly.
- [17:57]
Doug Goodnow
You know, I'll bring this up because I was here in the 80s, early 90s when we were in the GLIAC. You were in the GLEEC. We moved to the GMAC. Talk about the GLIAC, because making the playoffs is even more, I think, of an impressive accomplishment because you guys have to go through the Ferris States and Grand Valleys back in your day. Not that the GMAC isn't competitive, but tell me about, you know, having to play in the GLIAC and what your take is on now.
- [18:22]
Troy Weatherhead
The.
- [18:23]
Doug Goodnow
The gmac.
- [18:23]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, right? And so in my backyard, you've got Grand Valley State University, you've got Ferris. That's 40 minutes up the road. And obviously, there's some other schools in the up and over on the east side of the state that are great, you know, Division 2 schools as well. But, you know, there was a sense of pride when, you know, you came down to Hillsdale. And I think about some other really great football players from the Grand Rapids area that I played with. Tom Corty, Joe Glendenning, who's also in the Hillsdale College Athletic hall of Fame. He was an incredible running back here. You know, there's definitely a chip on our shoulder as, you know, the small school and the gliac. It's like, hey, we want to go down there and we want to, we want to really, you know, show that we can play football. And I think a lot of people would look at the GLIAC especially, you know, during the time in 2010s and, and even before that when, when I was playing and would say, this is the toughest conference, you know, in, in Division two. And so your road to get to the playoffs, it was tough. And you know, two losses, three losses, you might not even get in because there's other teams in the gliac. When you think about strength of schedule and you know, how hard it was to get that many wins. And so nothing was guaranteed in the gliac. And you know, that's just one of the things that I, I'll forever be thankful that we got to play in the gliac. And you know, it's funny, we were actually talking to Coach Otterbein just this morning because he was at the golf outing with us, which was awesome. And afterwards we were in grabbing a bite to eat and you know, we were talking about the gmac and I think it was definitely the right move for the college to move into that conference. And you know, it's been awesome to see that they've had success in the GMAC as well. Division 2 football, it's good football, right? There's good athletes there and I don't care what the conference is. And so GLIAC or gmac, you know, if I'm being honest, I would have loved to see them stay in the GLIAC because there would have been a lot more, you know, as a West Michigan kid, a lot more home games for me to go to. But you know what, I'm glad that the college made the right decision for the time and I'm glad that there's still Division 2 football here and they're having a lot of success still.
- [20:08]
Callie McGinnis
Was that Minnesota game, was that the game where there was a very long field goal that was kind of a game, game decider.
- [20:15]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, you got it. Mark Petro, he came on. Mark Petro came on and made the game winning kick for us and we ended up winning that game by three points.
- [20:21]
Callie McGinnis
It was a long kick.
- [20:22]
Troy Weatherhead
It was for him. Yeah, it was a long kick. Yeah. I mean, shoot, when you're making 40, you know, 40 some yard field goals in the, in the dead of winter, I mean, that football's hard as a rock. Like that's a long field goal, so I wouldn't know. Yeah, Mark was an incredible kicker and he, he won that game for us. That's Cool. Yeah.
- [20:37]
Callie McGinnis
So did you. Were you recruited to play football? Is that how you ended up here?
- [20:40]
Troy Weatherhead
What's your.
- [20:41]
Callie McGinnis
What's your Hillsdale story?
- [20:42]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, so, you know, I've always kind of said, like, I didn't know if I was going to go walk on a Division 1 or play Division 2. And once I decided that Division 2 was the route that I was going to go, I had a couple offers. And, you know, talking with my parents and even my high school coaches at the time, we talked a lot about, you know, what school is going to best set you up for success in the future and where are you going to go be able to play at a really high level, but also get a phenomenal education. And so when you think about those things, I mean, Hillsdale quickly rises above the ranks, above, you know, some of the other schools that I was looking at. And so I was never one of those people who said, gosh, I want to go to Hillsdale College. It's, you know, at the top of my list, in all honesty. But I'll tell you what, I sure look back and thank God every day that my path was directed to Hillsdale, Michigan, because it was by far the best choice that I've ever made.
- [21:26]
Doug Goodnow
Well, you've had a great career with striker Sage. You dabble a little bit in professional football. Talk about that a little bit.
- [21:33]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, I sure did. I, you know, after I was done playing, it was one of those things where I was kind of thinking to myself, is this something that I want to pursue? And, you know, talking to some of the people that I hold really close to me in my life, they were telling me, like, you'll only get one opportunity to do this, so go try. Right? And if it doesn't work out, like, you will work for the rest of your life, and you'll never regret trying. And so after the 2011 NFL Draft, I got picked up by the Cleveland Browns as a. A undrafted free agent and was able to stick around with them for a while in the preseason. Got to, you know, suit up for a couple of the preseason games, which was just really, really cool experiences. And I also had an opportunity to play some arena football, and that was a lot of fun. It's a very different type of game. I almost view it as a little bit more of, like, backyard football with pads on a basketball court, but, shoot, it was a lot of fun doing that. And, you know, me and my now wife, my girlfriend, we got engaged when I was down in Cleveland during that time, which was really cool, and had some really good friends down in Cleveland, as that was a super, super fun part of life that, you know, right after I graduated from Hillsdale in May, I was doing kind of May through, you know, January of that. Of that year, so.
- [22:39]
Callie McGinnis
Well, had you stayed on, maybe you could have helped the Cleveland Browns.
- [22:41]
Doug Goodnow
I was going to say, Colleen, your husband. Yeah. He'd probably love to meet you and talk about the Browns football.
- [22:48]
Troy Weatherhead
I've got a couple buddies who are Browns fans, and I just tell them, look, if the Lions could turn it around, the Browns can turn it around.
- [22:53]
Callie McGinnis
Well, that's hopeful. Yeah, I'm not so hopeful, but I guess anything could happen.
- [22:58]
Troy Weatherhead
That's right.
- [22:59]
Callie McGinnis
That's cool.
- [23:00]
Doug Goodnow
So, obviously, you're. You're going into the hall of Fame. You're going in with your former coach, which is kind of. I'm. I. I bet. Expert, extra special. So tell me about what it means for you to be in the hall of Fame.
- [23:10]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah, it's. It's. It's so humbling. I know how trite it may be. But I'll tell you what. You pull into Hillsville, and there's the sign, and it reads, it's the people. And as I've been reflecting on, you know, the. The incredible honor of going into the hall of Fame, like, the honor is not about Troy Weatherhead. It's about so many people have positively impacted my life. There's no way I would be, you know, the quarterback I was or even the man, you know, that I am today, that if it wasn't for so many individuals that have looked out for me, who believed in me, who elevated my play, you know, who've pushed me to be a better version of myself than I thought possible. And so when I think about the honor of going into the Hillsdale College hall of Fame, I really just think about so many of my teammates, my high school coaches, my high school friends, friends, obviously my mom and dad. I mean, my. My parents have been my biggest advocates since I was, you know, playing Little League. And. And, you know, my dad has pushed me and, you know, it's one of those things that they said yes to everything. In high school, I played football, basketball, baseball, AAU travel, travel ball. I played golf in the summer, and my parents just said yes to it all. And so I think that's one of the things that I look back on as well, is I'm just so thankful to. To have parents who. Who did say yes to it all and who pushed me and believed in me, and, you know, all of those things together have equaled this moment. And that's what I really want to do tonight during the hall of Fame banquet is just hopefully be able to honor some of those individuals and just really express my gratitude for them. Because, like I said, it's not about me. It's about we, and it's about the tons of people who have helped me along the way.
- [24:43]
Callie McGinnis
Well, I see your bracelet says faith first. So is your faith a big part of your life?
- [24:50]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah. Yeah, my faith is an incredibly important part of my life. This is actually a bracelet I got. My grandmother was an incredible woman. She had 13 kids, and my dad's one of those 13. And she was one of the first women ever accepted into the University of Michigan Business School. And when she passed away, at her funeral, we gave these out because my grandma was an incredibly devout Catholic and one of the people who just instilled God first in our life. And I had two grandmothers who did that. And. And I always remember my Grandma Weatherhead was the one who would say faith first and would really push forward kind of that Catholic faith. And that was incredible. And my grandma McNabb, she would tell me all the time, she said, troy, football is what you do, but it's not who you are. God made you in his image and likeness, and your job is to honor that image and likeness that God made you in. And so my kids today still go to a Catholic school. We just moved over to, like I said a little bit earlier, Cary, Illinois, and there's a really great school there that we've fallen into. And, you know, I felt like at these schools and. And having God at the center of the education at these schools has just really been. Been a. Been a great fit for our family, and there's been a lot of community that gets embraced around that as well.
- [25:56]
Callie McGinnis
Very good.
- [25:58]
Doug Goodnow
That's great. Well, Troy, we really appreciate you being our guest today, and congratulations on. On the hall of Fame honor. Quite a. Quite a huge, you know, contribution.
- [26:09]
Troy Weatherhead
Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me. This has been a lot of fun. It's fun to reflect on my time here at Tylsdale and what's been going on after that as well.
- [26:15]
Callie McGinnis
That's what we do. We like to do that. I love it. Come back more often.
- [26:18]
Troy Weatherhead
All right. Anytime.
- [26:19]
Callie McGinnis
All right. See you.
- [26:21]
Doug Goodnow
For Colleen McGinnis, this is Doug Goodnow thanking you for joining us on the White and Blue podcast. And may that spirit long remain.